Sankofa Visual Identity – National Museums Liverpool

Hey guys! I have been busy over the last few months working on some new illustration and design projects! I’m happy to announce this commission for The National Museums Liverpool.

I created a visual identity for their exhibition The Sankofa: Connections and Collections. Sankofa is a word in the Akan language of Ghana that translates as ‘reach back and get it’. Which also refers to an Asante Adinkra symbol.

This project focuses on two collection areas identified as strategic priorities for National Museums Liverpool (NML); Transatlantic Slavery and its legacies and Black Social History/Black Diaspora (including Black maritime history).

Led by three of NML’s museums (International Slavery Museum, Museum of Liverpool and Merseyside Maritime Museum) and the Bristol Museums Galleries and Archives and the Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation (WISE) in Hull. Developed and delivered in collaboration with Anti-Slavery International, Black Cultural Archives in Brixton and community organisations in Liverpool, Hull and London.

The visual identity had to be spot on and work across multiple Museums (no pressure then!). I approached the project by creating a moodboard to help me understand the topic. Looking at different types of art and symbols to help guide me. Collecting symbols, colours to photography, this helped imagine powerful ideas in my head.

Akan symbols are rich, powerful and striking, and works to form a graphical piece. From here I created rough designs that appealed to their target audience, working with the Museum so they could see how the design was progressing.

I focused on three aspects within the visual identity, colour, shapes and tone of the piece. The Ghana flag was one of my main inspirations as I was developing the visual identity.

From rough designs, I developed one final design that myself and the client were both happy with. Communicating what the brief had asked in a creative way. The design incorporates colour from the Ghana flag, typography, and an Akan symbol.

You can find out more about this project on National Museum Liverpool’s website.

This was a great project to work on which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I hope you do too! Have a look below to see all my work and how this project developed. If you’re after any visual identity, logo, or illustration please do get in touch or visit my portfolio!

Many thanks for listening and visiting my news page today. You can follow what I’m up to on my Twitter, Facebook or Google + pages, I’ll really appreciate it if you do, and don’t be afraid to say hi to me! Many thanks again, and have a great day!